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Nogales, Arizona - 11 schools
An equity score of 43/100 ranks Nogales Unified District (4457) #159 of 437 districts in Arizona (state average 38). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $9,608 per pupil, Nogales Unified District (4457) ranks #429 of 634 Arizona districts by per-pupil spending (Arizona districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
5,687
Total Enrollment
11
Schools
$9,608
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Nogales Unified District (4457) operates 11 public schools serving 5,687 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Arizona. The school portfolio breaks down into 5 elementary, 2 high, 2 middle, 2 combined schools, a compact enough portfolio that families can compare every campus directly before they move, rent, or enrol. These enrollment and school figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 release, and the district is based in Santa Cruz County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $9,608 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 634 Arizona districts by per-pupil spending. See how Arizona compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 15.7% local, 56.8% state, and 27.5% federal, a state-revenue-heavy mix that insulates the district somewhat from local property-tax volatility, though it ties funding to state budget cycles. The district's equity score is 43/100, ranked #159 of 437 in Arizona against a state average of 38, in line with the typical spread seen across the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 11 schools offering Advanced Placement (5 AP courses district-wide), a 400.2:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 47.3% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 99.4% Hispanic or Latino, 0.3% White, 0.2% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Francisco Vasquez De Coronado Elementary School, with a diversity index of 2.4/100.
Its largest campus is Nogales High School, enrolling 1,774 students (31% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Pierson High School, at 119 students, a 15x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Nogales High School accounts for 31.1% of all Nogales Unified District (4457) student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Nogales Unified District (4457)-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: high. A single dominant campus often anchors a district's program offerings and staffing patterns; the share helps explain why district-wide averages may not reflect the typical neighbourhood-school experience. When one entity dominates a region's footprint, its programmatic and budget decisions effectively set policy for a majority of the affected population.
Nogales Unified District (4457) school enrollment varies 15× across entities
Nogales Unified District (4457) school enrollment ranges from 119 students (lowest) to 1,774 students (highest), a spread of 1,655 students. That spread reflects typical mixed-portfolio variation between specialty programs and large neighbourhood schools. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Nogales Unified District (4457) has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 74.4% of the population qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch
free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is the federal threshold for Title I funding allocations, established under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015). Eligibility here is approaching the 75% concentration-grant threshold; it does not yet unlock the extra funding tier but sits meaningfully above the baseline 50% majority mark. Regions with eligibility this high typically draw a substantially larger federal funding share relative to their local tax base, which can either offset or reinforce existing gaps depending on allocation policy.
Nogales Unified District (4457) student-counselor ratio is 400:1 — high (typically associated with staffing constraints that limit per-student counselor time; CRDC data shows higher ratios cluster in larger urban systems)
student-counselor ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE counselors against total enrollment, districts that contract intervention or social-emotional staff outside the counselor classification may be under-counted Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.
Nogales Unified District (4457) chronic absenteeism rate is 47.3% — well above typical (typically associated with unusually large scale or acute resource constraints)
chronic absenteeism rate is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: a student is chronically absent if they miss ≥10% of enrolled days for any reason, illness, family obligations, or disengagement Values this far above typical often signal acute resource constraints or a structurally different scale than most peers — worth reading alongside the underlying counts, not the ratio alone.
Comparisons are relative to Nogales Unified District (4457)'s own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.
Nearby Districts in Arizona
Top districts in the same state, compare side-by-side for enrollment, spending, and demographics.
How many schools are in Nogales Unified District (4457)?
Nogales Unified District (4457) has 11 schools, including 2 high, 2 middle, 5 elementary, 2 combined. Total enrollment is 5,687 students.
How much does Nogales Unified District (4457) spend per student?
Nogales Unified District (4457) spends $9,608 per student. The district has an equity score of 43/100, ranking #159 in Arizona.
What is the demographic composition of Nogales Unified District (4457)?
Nogales Unified District (4457) students are 99.4% Hispanic or Latino, 0.3% White, 0.2% Asian, averaged across 11 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Nogales Unified District (4457)?
Nogales Unified District (4457) has an equity score of 43/100, ranking #159 out of 437 districts in Arizona.